Narrative:

Maintenance was in the cockpit with the captain and first officer when I returned from my walkaround. They came out of the cockpit with the MEL and the aircraft maintenance logbook. They said the captain had a heading flag and they were going to defer it. I finished with my work. Maintenance brought back the MEL and aircraft maintenance log at departure time and instead of looking at the MEL, I put it away. The captain told me that when we get airborne, I needed to call and get time and initials for the MEL to put on the release. We had not yet started the engines and I told him I hadn't looked at the write-up, and asked if the paperwork was ok. He said yes and pointed to the flag on the heading indicator. I questioned whether we could go with an inoperative directional gyro and both the captain and first officer explained that the directional gyro worked fine, what was written up was the flag. After we were airborne, I looked up the MEL and discovered it was not the correct MEL. You cannot MEL the directional gyro heading flag. They (maintenance) had written up the RMI heading flag. When I brought this to the captain's and first officer's attention, the captain said 'oh well, I guess we better not say anything. At least we got off on time.' the first officer said 'if there is not an MEL for the flag then it is captain's discretion.' the captain agreed. I told them I didn't think so.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A DC10-10 WAS DISPATCHED IN NON COMPLIANCE WITH THE HDG FLAG ON THE CAPT'S HSI INDICATOR DEFERRED IN CONFLICT WITH THE MEL.

Narrative: MAINT WAS IN THE COCKPIT WITH THE CAPT AND FO WHEN I RETURNED FROM MY WALKAROUND. THEY CAME OUT OF THE COCKPIT WITH THE MEL AND THE ACFT MAINT LOGBOOK. THEY SAID THE CAPT HAD A HDG FLAG AND THEY WERE GOING TO DEFER IT. I FINISHED WITH MY WORK. MAINT BROUGHT BACK THE MEL AND ACFT MAINT LOG AT DEP TIME AND INSTEAD OF LOOKING AT THE MEL, I PUT IT AWAY. THE CAPT TOLD ME THAT WHEN WE GET AIRBORNE, I NEEDED TO CALL AND GET TIME AND INITIALS FOR THE MEL TO PUT ON THE RELEASE. WE HAD NOT YET STARTED THE ENGS AND I TOLD HIM I HADN'T LOOKED AT THE WRITE-UP, AND ASKED IF THE PAPERWORK WAS OK. HE SAID YES AND POINTED TO THE FLAG ON THE HDG INDICATOR. I QUESTIONED WHETHER WE COULD GO WITH AN INOP DIRECTIONAL GYRO AND BOTH THE CAPT AND FO EXPLAINED THAT THE DIRECTIONAL GYRO WORKED FINE, WHAT WAS WRITTEN UP WAS THE FLAG. AFTER WE WERE AIRBORNE, I LOOKED UP THE MEL AND DISCOVERED IT WAS NOT THE CORRECT MEL. YOU CANNOT MEL THE DIRECTIONAL GYRO HDG FLAG. THEY (MAINT) HAD WRITTEN UP THE RMI HDG FLAG. WHEN I BROUGHT THIS TO THE CAPT'S AND FO'S ATTN, THE CAPT SAID 'OH WELL, I GUESS WE BETTER NOT SAY ANYTHING. AT LEAST WE GOT OFF ON TIME.' THE FO SAID 'IF THERE IS NOT AN MEL FOR THE FLAG THEN IT IS CAPT'S DISCRETION.' THE CAPT AGREED. I TOLD THEM I DIDN'T THINK SO.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.